Sacrifice.

"Two days ago, they were chasing a girl at night in the pub." I said in fear. "So I thrashed them and saved the girl. You were there that day, you were hiding behind a car as you watched the scene."

"I know." She said with a smile and then lean forward for a kiss.

Till we got home, I continued listening to the sound made by my heart as it beats faster. We got home and she suggested a romantic game which we played for so long and we even forgot to take lunch.

Pastor Oluwashola asked me to come on that very day but I'd refused to go because of Joygiver. Somehow I was confused. I don't know if the Pastor was right or not, I don't even know whether to trust Joygiver or not. Night came and we had our dinner. We went to bed after we had taken shower together.

Though, what we spent in the bathroom was more than two hours. Hey, buddy! What are you thinking? We didn't do that thing you thought we did o. We were there sprinkling water on each other and having some other romantic bathroom play. 

The next day was a Tuesday. I woke up as early as thirty minutes after five in the morning as I had been invited to a show. Joygiver was still sleeping when I woke up, so I carefully got her head off my chest and kissed her forehead before heading to the bathroom. 

After taking my bath, I came back to the room nakedly as I thought Joygiver would still be sleeping but she was already awake and was sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Good morning, sweetheart." I greeted.

"I'm sorry, Bayo." She said with tears rolling down her cheeks. I looked at her in surprise. Should I be welcomed into a new day with this? I picked up a boxer and wore it, I then approached her and sat beside her, pulling her closer to me.

"What is it, Joy?" I asked.

"I betrayed your trust in me." She said as she sobbed. "I betrayed you, Bayo."

"You haven't betrayed me in any manner, Joy." I said. "What are you talking about?"

"Everyone calls me Joygiver but I guessed because of the love you have for me, you are the only one that calls me Joy believing that I'm your Joy." She sobbed. "Should I have done this to you?"

"What are you talking about, Joy?" I asked. 

"The woman who wants your destiny to be destroyed had given the witches all they asked for so that they will do the work for her." She said. "And also, the witches had given me all I asked for so that I will do that work for them. It is in the rule that I must do whatever they asked for as long as they were able to provide all what I asked for. Failure to do whatever they asked for in this kind of a situation will make face the consequence from Goddess Kateramma."

"Goddess Kateramma?" I asked with surprise. 

"Yes." She replied. "She is the leader of all the goddesses on earth. She is a monster with six hands. As I can't bear to face the consequence, I decided to make you have sex with me but you've always refused to have sex with me."

"I also can't bear to see you in that situation, Joy." I said. "You shouldn't bear any punishment because of me. I'm also giving my destiny to you for free, Joy. Take it in whichever way you can. But I can not have any intercourse with you as it is against my religion."

"Bayo," She cried for a while before she continued. "It is not possible for me to have your destiny without you having sex with me. I would have come to have sex with you in your dream long back but it seems you always pray before going to bed."

"You should have told me that earlier and I would have gone to bed without praying someday." I said.

"I love you, Bayo." She said as she hugged me tight. "I hope you will forgive me, Bayo. I poisoned your food three days ago."

"Why?" I asked with a mixed feeling of surprise and shock. 

"Because I want to force you on me." She said. "I have the poison's antidote with me. I want to make you beg for the antidote from me and leave you with no other option than to have sex with me. In that case, you will have no choice than to have sex with me to save you life."

"If the reward of falling in love with you is death, then I will die happily in your hand." I said. "But I will never commit sins intentionally. I will never get myself involved in fornication."

"But why are you so stubborn, Bayo?" She yelled as she stood up angrily and faced me. "If you refuse to have sex with me now, along with you I will kill your entire family."

"After getting punished by Goddess Kateramma, Isn't it?" I stood up angrily and faced her. "The only mistake I've ever made in my life is that I fell in love with you. And even when you threatened to kill my parents, that love I have for you held me back from raising my hand up to lan on you cheek a thunderous slap. I will give you an option now, Ms. Joy. Come and have sex with me in my dream tonight, I will not pray before going to bed."

"That will be too late, Bayo." She sobbed. "Today is the final day given to me to complete the assignment."

"I don't know why I'm saying this, Joy." I said. "I love you so much that I can sacrifice anything for you, but can I love you above God? Even when my mom said I should never fall in love with any girl from a pub, I went against her by falling in love with you. Maybe, she saw this coming. You even went as far as manipulating my friend. You made him believe you. I used to be a decent man like Joseph but you made me have oral sex with you, Isn't that enough. Listen, I can not go against my God because I want to satisfy you, I'm sorry."

"Are you not afraid of death?" She asked. 

"Everyone is bound to die one day, why should I be afraid of death?" I said. "If not today I may die tomorrow, death is certain."

Then something came to my mind. I realised the fact that I'd given my life to this girl.

"Has her love blinded me?" I asked myself. "Will I really let go of my destiny and become a church rat because of her. If I should allow her to get hold of my destiny, the lives of several other innocent youths in the world will be in danger because she won't stop with me."

"What are you saying, Bayo?" She sobbed. "Are you saying you prefer death 

At that moment, I was ready to sacrifice my life if at least that would help save the destiny of other innocent youths like me that might later fall into the trap of Joygiver.

"Joygiver." I said with tears covering my eyes. "You've poisoned me already. Please leave me alone and let me die peacefully. Go away from here."

"What are you saying, Bayo." She sobbed. "Are you saying you prefer death over fornication?"

"Let's forget about fornication, sweetheart." I said as I wiped my tears. "If I should allow you to get hold of my destiny, along with me you will grab the destiny of many other innocent youths in the world. This should not continue to be, I want something to stop you. If I die now, you will be punished by goddess Kateramma and she may banish you from the word of the goddesses. I want that to happen."

"So, you mean you want to sacrifice your life for the sake of other youths in the world?" She asked with tears rolling down her cheeks. 

"Of course, Joy." I replied. "This evil should not befall anyone again."

She fell on the ground and cried bitterly. Sincerely, I didn't know why she was crying so I didn't know how to console her. I went to dress up, decked up myself for the concert I was invited to.

"Probably, I would have been done with my performance on the stage before death comes in search of me." I said to myself. 

"You should not sacrifice your life for the youths, instead I will." Joygiver said as she stood up and brought out a small bottle out of nowhere. I didn't even know how the bottle got into her hand. 

"You will sacrifice your life?" I was confused. 

"Here is the antidote, take it and live your life." She said as she gave me the antidote. "One thing I've realised is that nobody can hurt a soul that maintains a close contact with God. Your soul is a pure one; You are not ready to sin against your God nor are you ready to sacrifice the fate of other youth. I've never seen a soul like yours. Yours is a pure soul."

"What are you planning to do, now?" I asked. 

"I will sacrifice my life for you." She said. "I will leave this world."